Riverbrian

I was hoping to set a record. If its going to be replaced, it's going to be replaced.

Disclaimer: Warning - Sometimes my food choices are not pretty. OK, I just was going with the theme, I chose the blueberry yogurt over the strawberry.

Yes and Yes Hot breakfast at both places. I was ready for breakfast in Kansas because I kinda skipped stopping coming out of Denver, I knew I would have to be up early and I just wanted to get to pillow as fast as possible. I took advantage of the Sausage Gravy over a biscuit and sausage patties, and sausage links and sausage yogurt. In Arlington, I opted out of the hot breakfast though, selecting a bowl of cereal and banana because I knew that I was having lunch at a top level BBQ place.

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day Four - August 1 - Oakley, Kansas to Arlington, Texas I was up and at it early this morning with a 6:30A departure. I certainly didn't stay long at the hotel, getting in late and leaving early but the Hotel was absolutely acceptable. Towns of 2,000 people in the middle of nowhere typically don't have acceptable hotels, most times they don't have a hotel. However, Oakley has the advantage of being at the confluence of I-70 and two U.S. highways so there were multiple cars in the lot and a decent sized truck stop across the street. I was moving before the truckers were, the first stop would be just down the road a bit as I took off for Monument Rocks. It was a short drive that seemed like a long drive because to get to monument rocks and to get out of monument rocks it takes about 10 miles of dirt road driving. I looked at the dirt road and contemplated skipping Monument Rocks because I have a 10 hour drive ahead and I couldn't get my head around starting this trip on a dirt road but this is what is there is western Kansas. In consideration of the scenery I have already seen and the scenery yet to come, I can't say that it was the worth the few miles on a not well maintained dirt road. Monument Rocks are a series of chalk formations that were left in the middle of nowhere by aliens. Kind of like the American version of Stone Henge without the stones or henge. There was no gift shop or posted information, the sun was just lighting up the sky and there was one other vehicle hanging around, it was like we were trespassing in a back forty of some ranch and Rip Wheeler was soon to show up crabby. OK, I've seen it, I've added dirt and mud to my trip with my back window and car splattered. On the way out, I meet up with another batch of unsupervised cows in the roadway once again. These cows didn't want to move so I had no choice but to grab a rope out of the trunk and lasso them, it was a good thing I went to the rodeo in Cheyenne to learn how to do this. Next stop on the Western Kansas cruise line was Dodge City, population 27,000, out here that's like New Orleans. You drive through the 21st century to find a little pocket of 19th century with a gift shop with a fee to walk around and see old stuff, while you hear horns honking on the streets nearby. The effort here was about a 2 on a scale of 10 so you could say I'm 0-2 as far as positive impressions of what there is to see in Western Kansas so onward I go. Next stop was a scheduled lunch at a BBQ place in Woodward, Oklahoma. I found the restaurant with ease and I also found an empty parking lot and this curious hours of service sign that stated this place was open 6 days a week but closed on Monday, oops didn't research that part while making my plans. I found another BBQ place while contemplating why the first place wasn't open on Monday in the first place. The replacement I found was drive through only, I ordered the brisket and was surprised when it was served in a cup with cheese melting over the top of it. It wasn't what I was expecting when I said "Brisket" but time is tight so I completed the transaction with out argument. I found an empty parking lot to sit in my car and have a cup of lunch. Next stop was the Hotel in Arlington, which was situated directly across the interstate from the Massive Cowboys stadium, which I could see in all it's Cowboyness from my window along with Globe Life off to the left. I unpacked a bit and headed down to the lobby to catch the shuttle to the Rangers vs Orioles game. The lobby was filled with baseball fans and I ended up speaking with two groups of people who were also on separate baseball stadium road trips but they were only getting in a couple of stadiums, when I mentioned that this was the 2nd of 8, I was immediately crowned the king of the Holiday Inn lobby and shuttle, which earned me preferred seating in the front row of the shuttle. It was 106 degrees when I arrived in Arlington, when you step out of an air-conditioned vehicle, it shocks you like a lobster being dropped into a boiling pot and you make a similar sound. I won't lie... I was grateful that the stadium came with a roof. The brand new ballpark in Texas. was obviously impressive but I'll say it, they failed to put character into the facility. It is just a large building with new things and nothing to make it stand out from the others. I like to walk completely around stadiums after I locate my section. Be warned that you will hit a wall that forces you to walk back all the way around just to find your seat. They did have some different food choices and I chose the Elote which instead of being served on the cob was served in a cup. I guess it was cup of food day for some reason. The Orioles spanked the Rangers. Back to the hotel for some sleep, I'll be departing at 9:28AM.

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day 3 - July 31 - Loveland CO to Oakley KS It's Sunday Morning, On schedule as I depart the hotel around 8AM. It's a very simple plan today, I'm driving up into the Rockies, driving out of the Rockies and then I am going to the Rockies game. Estes Park is the destination just mere inches from Rocky Mountain National Park. In hindsight, I possibly made a mistake in my planning. While sitting in my living room making my plans, I talked myself out of entering the Rocky Mountain National Park. I figured just reaching Estes Park would be enough to give me a solid impression of this part of the Rocky Mountains. Maybe it did... maybe it didn't but I didn't allow myself the time to find out. The road to Estes Park really doesn't reveal much to a scenery gawker such as myself, the road (Colorado 34) follows a river that has carved out a tight canyon to drive through. It's beautiful but you spend your time surrounded by walls of rock on both sides which limits your view of what could be. Estes Park does sit in a valley high up in the front range, elevation 7,000 feet, so it does open up quite a bit at that point and it is without question a beautiful little tourist town as the Gateway to the national park but I felt underwhelmed when I should have been at least whelmed. In hindsight I should have taken off at 6AM and drove into the park to find what surely should have been more than what I observed. However, following the schedule and leaving at 8AM... I no longer had the time to do this and still make it back to Denver for the game. Right or wrong, I came away with the impression that the Rockies were best viewed from a distance instead of right in the middle of them. The Rockies baseball team also looks better from a distance compared to standing in the middle of them so it works. While driving that Canyon to and from, there were numerous "Watch for Falling Rock" signs. OK... but the rocks are straight above me, it's a good thing that I have a sunroof so I can watch for them before they crush me. Arrived on Blake street and started looking for a parking spot, there was a parking lot fairly close to the stadium that cost $40 bucks, I don't like looking for parking and normally would have just grabbed that lot but I didn't see it until I drove past so I kept going and I noticed that the price kept dropping as I drove away from the stadium, so I thought let's see how low it can get. I found a lot for 10 bucks somewhere around Colorado Springs and I took the long walk down Blake street, which was just fine with me as I soaked in the Sunday Morning Denver atmosphere. I got my Ryan McMahon bobblehead so I had to lug that around as I checked out the stadium for the first time. As far as the stadium goes... I'd rank it in the mid-pack, there is nothing outstanding about the facility and there is nothing lacking. I found it accessible, clean and it has interesting food choices. I selected the Denver Steak and Cheese Fries which was basically french fries covered in cheese and steak. It was very good, I would absolutely have it again but next time I'm going to remember to grab napkins. The lady sitting a couple of seats over was probably horrified watching me eat this dish without napkins but yeah it was finger, arm and shirt lickin good. I also had the Elvis shake, which was a banana and peanut butter shake topped with caramel corn and bacon... yeah I said Bacon. It was good, you take care of the shake and you have a piece of candied bacon left over to chase it down. Disclaimer: My food choices are not always going to be pretty. One thing no one can ever take away from me, is that I was there when Byron Buxton hit his first major league home run. I was attending a game in Detroit back in Spetember... 2015? when Byron launched his first home run. Now I can also say that I was there when Josh Outman hit his first major league home run in Colorado. He did so in his very first MLB AB and he was a force throughout the game, the Dodgers appear to have another one waiting in the wings. After the Sunday afternoon game, I had travel time ahead of me to get to the next game Monday night in Arlington, Texas. The quickest way there was south and southeast through Colorado Springs and Amarillo, however I have been through Amarillo before and I have spent a couple days in Colorado Springs. Western Kansas on the other hand is a place that I have not had the pleasure, While sitting at home making my plans, I tried to come with a reasonable scenario that would bring me to Western Kansas in the future and I came up with nothing... maybe... maybe... if I were to take a new job with a traveling carnival, there was a chance I could spend some time running the tilt-o-whirl at the Finney county fair. If I was ever going to see western Kansas... this was it. So yep, of course, east on I-70 on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Highway I went. I wish I could say it was an interesting drive. It's miles and miles of grassland that will soon become just plain land when all those cows get done eating all of the grass out of the grassland. It is clearly cow country and if the cows could vote they would be setting policy around these parts. I pulled into Oakley, Kansas as the sun was starting to set. I am scheduled to depart in the morning at 6:26AM.

Chicago needs a nearby park with sculptures of the missing tops in this park.

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day Two - July 30 - Belle Fourche, SD to Loveland, CO Left Belle Fourche on schedule early in the morning around 6:30AM. The Hotel didn't have continental breakfast and that is a moment in your life where you wonder what happened to you. You had big plans for your life, you know that you were meant to live for so much more and here you are in South Dakota, 56 years old and disappointed that the Super 8 that you selected to stay at FAILED to provide a boiled egg or banana that you could take with you as you left. Quick thinking and resourceful as I always am, I was able to solve this problem by grabbing a convenience store burrito while fueling up. Disclaimer: Warning... my food choices are not always going to be pretty. I headed straight west out of Belle Fourche for Devils Tower in Northeastern Wyoming. I'm driving the northern portion of the Black Hills now. The Black Hills name came from Lakota Words "Paha Sapa" which means hills that are black. I will go to my grave saying that those hills are without question green in color. The Black Hills are not just hills, this is where a new geographical feature made it's first appearance... mountains are now in view, granted, they were little baby Mountains but the scenery has kicked up a notch. As you enter into Wyoming the curves in the road start increasing and you never know what is around each corner as you blindly travel into each turn, most of these turns revealed absolutely nothing, not even a Dodge Ram or Honda CR-V but then out of nowhere on the other side of one curve in Wyoming on the way to Devils Tower, there appeared a fairly large herd of very large animals. My brain immediately shouts out... "BISON". My brain continues on... "Look at all the Buffalo"... "Hundreds of them". Then my brain started a debate... are they Bison or Buffalo or both? Many of them were in the roadway so I slowed considerably and started to think about how to get past them. I wondered how close I should get to them... should I honk to get them to move off the roadway? Do I leave them be and drive through the field instead? Do I throw my burrito into the field and see if they chase after it? As I got closer you can imagine my disappointment when I realized that they were not Bison/Buffalo at all but ordinary cows. 50 to 100 cows just walking in a ditch and down the highway with no supervision. The Majority of them were in the ditch but maybe 10-20 were using the highway to travel on, perhaps they were like me just going to check out Devils Tower but I admit complete curiosity on why these cows were unsupervised on the road in these large numbers. They were very courteous cattle, because as I approached, the highway cows all moved over into the right lane allowing me to use the left lane to pass them. I waved and said thank you as I passed, there was no reason I shouldn't be polite. You first see Devils Tower maybe 10-15 miles away, then it disappears, and then it appears again and then it... you get the pattern. By the time you reach it... or should I say... by the time you reach the nearby gift shop/slash RV park that was filled with RV's in the middle of nowhere... you've seen it. It isn't that much different up close or up closer as it was a few miles back. It's a big rock that Towers over the other big rocks and that's probably why "Tower" is in the name. It is beautiful in it's ruggedness but clearly it was made by the devil so I didn't stay long. I stopped... stood for a second... got back in my car and drove toward Cheyenne, Wyoming. As you exit the Black Hills area of Wyoming heading south, you enter a seemingly endless area of rolling grassland. The area is hilly enough to bring rolling grassland to a higher level because your view is extended many more miles and this produces a long view of a brownish/gold color that makes you think that Wyoming has to be the biggest state in the entire universe... you know it's larger than Rhode Island for sure as you look at the highway ribbon stretching out ahead. I arrived in Cheyenne a little before noon. It is Frontier Days in Cheyenne and I am ready to explore the frontier. You know how people who are experienced at something will sometimes say "Not my first rodeo", right after or before they sew a button on a shirt. People say that all the time but this will literally be my first Rodeo that I am about to attend. Frontier Days has been a 10 day annual event since 1897. 125 years of this 10 day event that is attended by 200,000 people every year and they still don't have a sensible solution for parking. The closest parking that I could find was on a regular street 15 blocks from the venue and I had to squeeze into that spot, in front of a house and yard of an 80 year old who was mowing his front lawn at the time. I got out of my car, waved at the old guy, there was no reason I shouldn't be polite and I got the same response as I did from the cows. Clearly this wasn't his first rodeo. First I had to grab some food, I had been living off an early morning gas station burrito and I needed to redeem myself with something more nutritious. So I grabbed a Fruity Pebble Shrimp Po-Boy for 15 bucks at the Carnival midway just a few yards from the stadium entrance. It was indeed a shrimp po-boy sprinkled with a healthy dose of fruity pebbles. It tasted EXACTLY how you think it would taste! It was good... I'd have it again but it did occur to me that I could produce the same effect by dropping shrimp into my bowl of fruity pebbles. At the Rodeo... did I mention that this was my first one. I admit that I didn't understand the scoring system being used. I mostly watched and waited for the P.A. announcer to tell me if the cowboy did or didn't do OK. I was told by others in the audience that I was watching the best of the best and if this was my first rodeo that I started in the big leagues. Trying to grasp what was happening with nothing to compare it to, I kind of came to the conclusion that it made no sense to reward the cowboys with all these points, it is the horses and the bulls that deserved the points. Here is another observation... the cowboys all start out of the gate with a hat on... and without fail every single cowboy would lose his hat during the ride... Why wear the hat in the first place? You know it is going to get bucked off. Speaking of hats... There were a ton of white Stetson hats in the stadium. When I was walking the concourse, I looked down into a section where nearly everybody was wearing white hats. Everybody with a white hat blocking the view of the guy in the row behind him all the way to the top row. An entire section with all heads cocked just slightly to the right or left to see around everybody's big white hat. After the Rodeo... It was off to my hotel in Loveland Colorado. It was late and I didn't want to mess around so I grabbed an order of Buffalo Wings at Wing Shack, which is a chain that I have never heard of. They tasted like Buffalo Wings so kudo's to Wing Shack. I ate them in my hotel room because I know that the staff appreciates the once white now orange towels that are left behind. I made some phone calls to loved ones, talked about the cows, fruity pebbles and the white hats and went to bed. I'll be leaving at 8:00A in the morning.

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day One - July 29 - Grand Forks to Belle Fourche, SD: After getting some work done in the morning, I was packed, fueled and ready to go, Departing Grand Forks, ND around noon. This was just going to be a drive day through territory I've been through multiple times just to get myself closer to where I'm going. The trip started off with a quick development, about 10 miles into my 8,000 mile plus journey, just outside of Thompson, ND on I-29, I took a rock chip to my window, which meant I would have to stare at this rock chip for the next 7,990 miles plus yet to go. I also had some unplanned annoying hitchhikers that jumped into my car at the very beginning that had to be dealt with. I had planned for dinner in Bismarck, ND but was leaving a little hungry so I stopped at McDonalds for a quick tide me over Double Cheeseburger/Fries to eat along the way. I have only had my car since February and I don't think I've ever had a fly in the car but while ordering at Mickey D's, 3 flies decided that they wanted to tag along for the trip. A fly in the car can be a little distracting, especially when they are the sort of fly that isn't content hanging in the backseat. Trying to get them out of the car takes your complete focus on them, you watch for them to land on any window and then you open that window and the air would push them back in. If they land in swatting distance, you swat at them and this is usually unsuccessful because you have the handicap of trying to keep the car in a designated lane at 80 mph... I actually accidentally swatted myself in the head hard enough trying to remove a nearby fly that I momentarily forgot why I was in the car in the first place. You may think what's the big deal, flies in the car? All in all, it's not a big deal but I want to be clear that I got the last of the flies out of the car around Valley City, ND. That is two solid hours of fly focus, which only breeds an acute hate for the creatures and getting them out becomes the single most important thing in your life for that time frame. The only benefit of the fly battle was.... For two hours, I didn't really look at the rock chip and when I finally got them all out... I felt amazing. There was a sense of achievement that produced a happiness that put a pep in my step. Stopped in Bismarck for a quick burger at Scotty's Drive-In -- home of the Rebel Burger. A food warning is probably necessary, my meal choices are not always going to be pretty. Just imagine in your head what a Polar Bear would order when visiting some place and that's what I do. OK... Yes, I know I had a burger for lunch but the burgers at McDonald's require a different classification so they don't really count so this was my first Burger of the day. The Rebel Burger is a big step up from fast food that you can get fairly quickly. It hit the spot and I was ready for the rest of the journey south to South Dakota. I chose the Enchanted Highway South because someone or someone's took the time to build a bunch of large metal sculptures and place them along a single stretch of highway about an hour west of Bismarck, if you build it they will come, the road ran south, so I did what we should all do if someone creates something, I took a look at it out of respect and I drove the highway to look at Giant Metal Geese, deer, grasshoppers, fisherman, pheasants, a giant metal Teddy Roosevelt as if he wasn't scary enough. Here's the deal, the road was going my way, the other roads going my way didn't have a Giant metal Tin Family waving at you. If you ever find yourself in Regent, ND because you got hopelessly lost on your way to Vermont. Just know the enchanted highway is there for you. Scenic is not an adjective that you use for eastern North Dakota so maybe I'm just comparatively impressed by actual scenery when I come across it. After this journey, I am able to say unequivocally that the line between the midwestern plains and what I'll call the western landscape begins West of Bismarck. This is where the hills start to appear along with broadened vistas that go on for miles and the introduction of buttes of all shapes and sizes. The Buttes become more impressive as you cross into Northwestern South Dakota. Nobody lives in NW South Dakota, you go many miles without seeing a man made structure but the Buttes are standing taller and herds of antelope a hundred strong are roaming in the open fields. The scenery has begun and it is going to continue nearly non-stop. I arrived in Belle Fourche South Dakota at a reasonable hour and spent the night. Day one is in the Books. I am scheduled to leave in the morning at 6:27AM.

Good Luck with your prediction... MR. Executive... whoever you are. There are 26 players on all 30 teams who are going to perform above and below expectation for periods of time during the next two months that will blow any prediction he may have OUT OF THE WATER. Now if this executive does indeed have the ability to foresee the up and down progressions for 26 players on all 30 teams in the next two months. This Executive is pretty amazing and it obviously means that his team is winning every single year. I

I understand the logic being used to justify trading Correa. At the same time... I am a million miles from understanding the logic being used to justify the trading Correa. Uff Da

If Sano gets that Sano type of hot... he will impact this roster. If Sano is that Sano type of .100 hitter that check swings on slider... he will impact this roster. Personally... I'm excited to watch him tonight. It's been a while.

In my opinion of course, Nobody goes into the "Haven't Been" column. Everybody has gotten significant playing time including Nick Gordon. The only real playing time casualties have been Garlick and Celestino when being utilized on the short side of the platoon. Celestino has gotten a lot of work against RH's due to injuries though. Sano joining the roster will move Kirilloff into more OF play to keep his bat in the lineup and get Sano some AB's. Miranda DH, 1B, 3B, Ushela 3B, DH, Kirilloff 1B, LF, RF, DH Sano 1B, DH combined produce plenty of combinations that keep everybody reasonably fed. Arraez is the guy that you got to feed as much as possible and he is available to get some playing time at DH, 1B, 3B and 2B. I think there will be plenty of playing time for all going forward, nobody will get splinters and that's good because we don't know who is going to get hurt next but whoever it is... we got a decent replacement for whoever it is and a replacement that won't be coming in cold. I love Depth.

Which starting caliber players are not playing regularly?

The value is the opportunity to win the next series.

Exactly, it might rain. It might not. Lots of people refusing to cut the grass because of the possibility of rain. Meanwhile its Partly Cloudy, 75 degrees and you have a lawnmower that works until the end of July.

Hey! I just had a thought. Is it possible that these in season player fluctuations you speak of... stay with me... play a role in the in season team fluctuations that i speak of.

I could feel the ribbing in my ribs.

You are correct i can't. But i believe there are a couple bullpen guys who have had enough attempts.. ?

I don't agree with the old Curmudgeon. If the season ended today... They are in the playoffs. I really don't pay much attention to anyone who can look at a roster in late September and declare they know who will win or lose a playoff series and I really really don't pay much attention to anyone who can look at a roster in July and be so certain. If you have that ability... Quit your job, place your bets, cash out and buy a vacation home in Hawaii. The Mariners are 22-3 in there last 25 games. They were 29-39 prior to that. The Red Sox started the season 10-19. Followed that with a 32-12 stretch and are currently in a 6-14 stretch. The Orioles started out 24-35 and have been on a 22-11 stretch since. Does the Old Curmudgeon have the ability to tell us right now with certainty what team is going to go 20-10 in August. The Marlins? Who is going to start firing off win after win in September. I don't know myself and I'm not going to ask the Old Curmudgeon either because he doesn't know. Is the old Curmudgeon talking about the 27-16 Twins that started the year? Or is he talking about the 23-28 Twins since? There are 68 games to go. I don't have the ability to predict what the Mariners, Red Sox, Orioles or Twins do over that time frame and neither does the old Curmudgeon. I do know that the bullpen needs help... So help it. It's what the trade deadline is for. SUPPORT YOUR TEAM!!!

It's the terror of knowing what this bullpen's about. Watching some good friend scream "GET HIM OUT".

This is one of those areas where I let the front office do their job. How much future they can mortgage along with what the other teams are asking is the information they should have their arms around. I know that we don't. My expectation is simple: I expect the front office to support a contender that they built. I'd appreciate practicality with a side order of brave. I'll let them worry about the cost... but they better be buying.

The World Series is certainly a consideration when making these trade deadline decisions but I find it helpful to not skip a step in your considerations. We are currently fighting two teams to win the AL Central... We are fighting 7 teams for a wild card spot. The first step is to buy at the deadline to improve your team in the battle against the 7 teams trying to keep you out of the playoffs. There will be all of August and September yet to play, injuries can't be predicted other than predicting that they will indeed happen... September is usually an edge of the seat month for contenders with the clock ticking. The World Series ramifications of trade deadline decisions are the 2nd step only after the 1st step is achieved. Hopefully the players acquired at the trade deadline help you in both steps but skipping the first step to focus on the 2nd step in these discussions is skipping step one and that step is important in it's own glory.

I think it's important to point out that this discussion isn't just North and South Pole. There is an entire globe in between the extreme reactions. There are levels of improvement between acquiring Juan Soto and picking up help off the waiver wire. When I say buy... that doesn't mean I'm saying drain the farm to get it done. I'd love to have Soto... who wouldn't. However... that type of acquisition would almost require a farm system reset to get it done. There are other options that will improve this team with a lesser price tag. However, being a buyer always comes with a price tag.

In support of your point... I could also come up with examples (plural) of teams who bought at the deadline and went straight into the crapper short term after the purchasing and I could come up with examples of teams who sold at the deadline and became difficult to beat short term in August and September. There are no guarantees in baseball. We could pay the prospect price and acquire Castillo. Advocates of this deal see the Ace they long for. The Mind's Eye imagines Castillo matching up against Cole and now the Twins have a chance and they feel better. The mind's eye does not consider the possibility of Castillo getting lit up in the 1st inning... The mind's eye does not consider the possibility of Cole getting lit up in the 1st inning. Nobody in July thinks Yu Darvish will pitch like Yu Darvish did in October when they acquire Yu Darvish. There are no guarantees in baseball. However, there is balance on the other side of the ledger. There is a long list of acquired prospects who ended up just eating minor league food on the bus to Greenville. This team is in first place. It is in contention. You can't look at this bullpen and not attempt to make it better.

I'm really sorry that you feel that way. You got yourself all hung up in the past and that is never healthy when tomorrow can be better if you let it. The playoff losing streak started in 2004. I just did a quick check of the roster. There are no members of the current roster that were on that 2004 roster so 2022 has nothing to do with 2004. The last loss was in 2020 to the Astros. While we do have members of that squad on our current roster. When you look at the 13 most prominent position players and the 13 most prominent pitchers of 2020. 16 of them are no longer here and we gained one of the Astros who beat us with Carlos Correa. Yesterday doesn't apply to today. 162 games are always a roller-coaster. We are in first place heading into the trade deadline. Support your local team. You have to get into the playoffs to win the playoffs. ?